


Danganronpa: Sheltered Suffering

by Meknomancer



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-09-07 06:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16849150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meknomancer/pseuds/Meknomancer
Summary: As the world recovers from a great Tragedy, 17 year-old Ayame Shinjitsu, the Ultimate Investigative Journalist, is invited to attend as a student in the First Class of the re-opening Hope's Peak Academy. On the first day, along with the other extremely talented teenagers in her class, she finds herself in a familiar situation... a very, very bad one.





	1. Prologue: A New World of Suffering

As I stand at these gates, it feels like I’ve entered a whole new world. Like something from a movie, or video-game. It’s just... surreal. Any sense of importance I had for myself was suddenly and completely dwarfed by this building.  
The new, and rather controversially re-opened Hope’s Peak Academy.  
Jeez, I really just dived right in there didn’t I? Sorry about that, I have a habit of getting straight to the point with things, and I’m not usually one for pointless semantics, but I guess I can try, at least just a little bit.  
My name is Ayame Shinjitsu. And why I’m here? Well, I’m the **Ultimate Investigative Journalist**.  
I know, it sounds sorta overly pompous, but that ‘Ultimate’ at the start of my title means that I was scouted by the legendary (maybe notorious would be a better word) Hope’s Peak Academy, for being the best in my age group at what I do!  
And what is it that I do? Well, it should speak for itself, but to put it simply, I find out the truth about things, and make sure it gets out there to people, despite all the issues around the world recently. Save your applause.  
Yeah, I know, compared to some of the other people that were scouted as part of the First Class on the Academy’s re-opening, I’m basically a pigeon amongst eagles. That’s why I can’t help but feel a little out of my depth standing here. I realise my ‘Talent’ might need a little bit of explaining, so here’s the lowdown. I’ve always lived a relatively normal life, aside from two things:  
One: My parents are absolute conspiracy nutjobs. Don’t get me wrong, I love ‘em and all. Mom and dad have taken care of me my entire life, and if they raised me to be anything, it’s honest. But I can’t believe how many stupid theories they obsessed over that I actually bought when I was younger. Sure, I probably didn’t know any better, but I still feel embarrassed about it.  
Two: My school life has been pretty much Hell since elementary school, for one reason, and that sorta links back to earlier. When I was little, some kids dubbed me “The Snitch” and that’s all I’ve been known as ever since. Even when I was basically the life and soul of the school paper, I’ve always been a social outcast, all because I have a recurring habit of telling teachers on anyone for doing bad things, so nobody at school trusts me in the slightest. Most of the things I told about weren’t even that bad! I guess you just make one big slip-up, and that reputation follows you for the rest of your school life, like a shadow.  
But whatever! It feels like i’m light-years away from that now, and I can finally leave it all behind me. I know things’ll be better at Hope’s Peak. All I have to do is take...  
Just...  
One...  
Step...  
Forwards-  
And then, everything went black.

 

“Can you please get away from her?”  
“W-what if she’s dead though? I need to check if she’s dead, I think she might be dead!”  
“She’s not dead, none of us were. No reason to think she’d be any different.”  
“Who knows? ... O-oh damn, I think she really is dead.”  
It was the bickering between two different voices that woke me up.  
Opening my eyes was like digging out of my own grave, my eyelids so heavy that for a second, I thought I’d become the Ultimate Sleeper. Somehow, I did it anyway, shaking my head. I could feel my rear end against the bare metal floor, and shook my head, trying to look from side to side. I was in some sort of square, metallic room with 4 exits on each side, each one leading to a hallway. It was then that my vision narrowed on what was peering directly into my soul, a rather young looking boy’s face. My shoulders jolted against the wall as my entire body instinctively moved into it, although I was aware I had company so I managed to hold back any embarrassing noise I might have made. The boy made a sound only describable as an Eep, as he jumped back, revealing just how short he was.  
“Holy Romero, she’s alive!”  
Just like his height, the boys voice was suitably youthful, rather high-pitched, and the kind of voice well-suited to a laugh, giggle or cackle. Cackle, specifically. Children could be cruel.  
“R... Romero? Holy Romero? What kind of expression is that?”  
The second voice I had heard was far more normal, yet it held a sense of calmness and warmness, that caused me to naturally soothe a bit, letting out a small sigh as my shoulders untensed against the metal wall. An appropriate description for it would be like... dripping honey or something. The childish voice simply continued as the small boy raised his arms limp in the air, walking from side to side menacingly.  
“It’s aliiiiiiive! It’s aliiiiiiiiiive! Look Kazzy, it’s alive.”  
I rubbed my eyes as my vision cleared, now seeing more of the small boy. He seemed to be wearing a red and black matching hoodie and shorts, each with a sort of patchwork theme, the main body of the clothes being black, the patches assorted around being red. Weird. From under the hood I could make out small tufts of grey hair, and his blood red eyes. Most notably were the socks he was wearing, pulled up quite high, visibly black and red striped. This kid was definitely committed to his style... If it could be described as a style. The boy then giggled, quickly running away out of my sight, the owner of the second voice wandering after him into my field of vision.  
“I never said you could call me that, but okay.”  
He had curly white hair, and rather comforting purple eyes, cleaning a pair of glasses in his hands, simply rubbing them on the sleeve of his white button-up jacket. Soon enough he turned to me, giving a nod of acknowledgement. “You should get up. Probably good for your safety.”  
I did that, rubbing my back as I did so, awkwardly staring at him, unable to make any words come out of my mouth due to the strange situation we were in. It couldn’t possibly be...  
The boy quickly interrupted me, putting his glasses back on his face as he gave me a cold gaze. “You had just arrived at Hope’s Peak, and then you blacked out right?” He sighed softly. “Then I can presume you’re the sixteenth and final member of our class.”  
He didn’t really even give me a chance to answer, before he just judged from my mannerisms and carried on... I wasn’t sure if I was intimidated or not.  
“Y-yeah... do you know where we a-are?”  
Yep, definitely intimidated. Damnit Aya! If my body wasn’t so numb I’d have facepalmed right there. Shouldn’t have tried talking while I was still so shook up. The boy stared at me, taking a large break between my words and his before speaking with conviction.  
“No. I was the first to awake and gain my bearings, but I can’t confess to knowing anymore about this and you most likely do. Anyway, we all know the stories right? So.. and I don’t want to make this call so early, but it’s the only possibility that makes sense... We’ve been taken here to-“  
And that’s when a squealing, ear-grating intercom sound spread throughout the room, drawing everyone’s attention to the roof, that sound being quickly replaced by a high-pitched, cartoon character like voice... a voice that instantly sent chills down my spine.

 

“Testing, testing, one two three! Mike check, mike check! Is it time for my intro yet? I think it iiiiiiiis!”  
Before any of us had time to react, smoke surrounded the centre of the rooms floor, as from that smoke emerged... a half black, half white teddy bear, the eye on the black side a wicked, almost carved, blade-like red slash, the eye on the white side... well, what should have been an eye, was replaced with a large lens only comparable to that of a camera. But what terrified everyone in the room was not the design itself, but what it meant. It could only be-  
“Mono-kumaaaaaaaaaa!”  
The bear finished all their thoughts as it posed gloriously, the smoke finally fading away completely. “Or, if you wanna get technical, I’m **Camkuma**.”  
He stopped posing and stood awkwardly to tack that deadpan statement onto the end of his entrance yet, as an eerie awkward silence overtook the room, the bear raising a hand over its mouth curiously. “Awwwww, no screams of fear? Puhuhu! What a shaaaame! I thought my star power had spread the world over, but I guess I was wrong- HA!”  
Camkuma moved both its hands over its belly, chuckling uproariously as it’s red eye glowed. “Just joshin’ ya! I know you all know me! And that means... you know exactly what this means.” It’s eye still glowing, the bear raised one hand to the air, it’s words now carrying a far more sinister weight.  
“The 16 of you’s make up the First Class of the newly re-opened Hope’s Peak Academy! And you’ve all woken up in a strange facility, with the rest of your class, no way to call for help, and now I’m here-" The bear spoke teasingly. “You all know what that means! You’re all gonna play the Killing Game!!! Puhuhu!” The bear cackled evilly as I felt a cold sweat grow on my brow.  
No... it wasn’t possible... They said they’d never let it happen again! The terrifying bear continued its speech.  
“Now, I already took the liberty of slipping your Student E-Handbooks onto your persons, if you were too slow to notice em already! Obey my rules... play along... and maybe, just maybe... you’ll make it out alive! Puhuhu! Just to remind you I’m always waaaaaaatching!”  
A sickening zooming sound came from the camera eye as it dilated and narrowed in quick succession, another puff of thick smoke appearing from the ground as Camkuma disappeared from sight...  
A sickening, ominous feeling of Despair and dread overtaking the entire room. I felt like I was suffocating...  
The mere though of the Suffering to come was enough to bring me to my wits end.

 

Prologue: A New World of Suffering  
END


	2. Chapter 1: Tyrant's Tears of Regret - Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayame gets acquainted with her fellow classmates, finding herself quickly out of her element. Meanwhile, trouble starts to form when one of the group attempts to take control.

Everyone in the room simply stood frozen in fear. My limbs felt numb, maybe they actually were. The amount of sheer force of will it took to regain control of my body from the fear that had overtaken it was almost indescribable. Despite this, I managed to command my hands to feel their way down the strap around my shoulders, reaching the small brown satchel bag at the end of those straps. I opened it up, shoving my hands in and fiddling around, still unable to take my eyes off the floor, where the Mono- no, Camkuma, had been? Whatever it was supposed to be. For a second, I thought I had found the familiar feeling of my phone, letting out a sudden gasp of relief I had been holding in for a while. However, I quickly realised this was much larger than any phone I had ever been able to afford. More like a tablet… I pulled out a black tablet, the screen turning on with a blue light. So this was the Student E-Handbook our captor was talking about. The first thing I did was access an area labelled ‘Maps’, and as expected, found the floor map of the area we were in, labelled ‘Provisions Quarter’. It seemed as if the area in which we had all awoken was the ‘Common Room’. The blue, metallic room most certainly didn’t have the appearance of one. There wasn’t even any furniture to speak of in sight. I would have time to investigate all the other areas later… although a small, quiet voice at the back of my head told me I might not even get that chance. I quickly moved onto reading the second part of information contained in the handbook, labelled ‘Rules’. _Student Handbook – Camkuma’s Rules 1\. Students may not leave the Shelter, unless they manage to meet the requirements to leave (See Rule 4) 2. You are free to explore the Shelter as you want, but attempting to break into areas not officially opened by Headmaster Camkuma is strictly prohibited. 3. Violence against Headmaster Camkuma is not allowed in any shape or form, and will be punished harshly. 4. If you wish to leave the Shelter, you must murder one of your classmates without being discovered. 5. Headmaster Camkuma may add as many new Rules as deemed necessary at any time. _I couldn’t help but curse under my breath. “H-Headmaster? Who the fuck does this bear think he is?” I wasn’t planning on playing this sick game, but if anything I already knew was correct, we wouldn’t be given much of a chance. I quickly checked the ‘Student List’ area. Yep, 16. The entirety of my new class at Hope’s Peak was stuck in here with me. I can’t believe I said something as stupid as school getting better. Good job Aya, way to jinx it. I finally turned off the Handbook and returned it to my bag, just the sight of the thing almost taunting at this point. That’s when my eyes finally made their way upwards, settling on the face of the guy who had been talking to me before the announcement once again. And, just like before, he seemed to calm most of my fears with his presence alone. Before I could open my mouth to try and make any attempt at coherent speech, he once again out sped me. “Kazumi Maebure. **Ultimate Therapist**.” He spoke with certainty and conviction. Earlier, I was questioning how he had kept a level head this entire time, but this seemed to explain it. However, he instantly back-pedalled from this confidence, awkwardly ruffling a hand through the back of his hair and smiling softly. “It was an introduction you were going to try and do, right? Sorry, I have a habit of deciding my actions by predicting what other people are about to do. I’m not always right. Well, that should be obvious. I’m only human, after all.” He chuckled, a sound that betrayed the atmosphere of the building around us. In fact, just being around this guy seemed to be having a good effect on my attitude. As to be expected of the Ultimate Therapist. I couldn’t seem to recall anything about him, even though the name felt strangely familiar to me. I simply nodded in recognition. “Ayame Shinjitsu, Ultimate Investigative Journalist. You can just call me Ayame though!” Kazumi simply nodded back, before walking away, speaking again as he did so. “I assume you’ll want to get acquainted with the rest of the class. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, but be careful. Some of these people are… weird.” I raised my finger, about to object to his sudden ditching, but I didn’t quite realise how I’d put the request for him to stay into words without it being awkward. My eyes scanned the room, before I made my way over to the short boy who had woken me up alongside Kazumi. He was leaned up against a nearby wall, next to a boy in similar clothing, but with an orange and brown colour scheme instead of red and black. By the time I got closer, I realised even their faces were similar. “Ooh, ooh it’s Torihadastein’s Monster! What, want me to make another one of you so you’re not lonely?” The boy I had first met giddily bounced off from the wall, leaning over before me, staring me right in the eyes from awkwardly close, as he continued his themed joke from earlier. He then leaned back onto the wall, falling into a fit of manic giggling as he slapped a hand over his eyes. “You’re the Journalist girl, right? Hammy whatsherface? You probably know me already, but I’m Osore Torihada, the **Ultimate Horror Aficionado!** ” He spoke that title with such pride that I completely overlooked how horribly he messed up my name as I recalled what I knew about him. His father was a famous Horror movie director, in fact I’d personally watched a few of his movies, even though you’d be reaching pretty far if you tried to call me a fan. His mother was a famous actor known for Horror movies too; I remember her being referred to as the ‘Queen of Screams’ once by some TV chat show. He definitely came from some serious pedigree, and that’s why he was well known for being involved with Horror, all over the shop. He was most famous for writing his own Horror-Mystery hybrid novel that came out fairly recently, named ‘Killing Dual-Life”, about an uncaught Serial killer who finds himself stalked by another serial killer. The book was mostly known for the absurd twist at the end, where it’s revealed that to get away from the police, the main character stole a normal person’s identity, and that the guy hunting him down this entire time was actually the real version of the person we thought we knew all this time, coming for revenge. I thought it was completely contrived and ridiculous, but it sold great, and I hear fans of the Horror and Mystery genre really enjoyed it. My endless thinking was interrupted by his childish, playful voice again. “Hey, we’re supposed to be killing each other right? Ooh, who d’ya think’s gonna drop a body first! The smart money’s on that Naruto lookin’ guy, but I got other ideas! Y’know…” He leaned over in front of me again; his face right in front of mine, a wicked toothy grin flashing across his face, his eyes like pools of scarlet blood as he teasingly finished his sinister words. “Maybe me?” He then leaned back against the wall once again, giggling like a child. The second boy, who was nervously standing around near to him, shifting his weight from foot to foot, stared up at me, even his hair like Osore’s, although ginger in colour. He opened his mouth to speak, making a nervous and stuttering attempt at conversation. “H-h-h-hello there… I-I’m…” I sighed at his words, or lack thereof. “Mind speaking up a bit kid? I can’t understand you and we’re kind of pressed for time.” He looked slightly scared, before reaching down into the pockets of his hoodie, a few seconds later pulling his hands out again, this time both covered in socks, surprisingly well attached googly eyes on each, and fuzzy antlers stuck to them like ears. I couldn’t help but jolt back a little in confusion. “S-sock puppets?!” The boy immediately began to move his fingers, the puppets mouths moving as a far higher pitched, sing-song tone, less soft voice invaded my ears, almost as if it was coming from the puppets themselves. I couldn’t even see his mouth moving! “Hi there! My name’s Hishashi Torihada, the **Ultimate Ventriloquist**! What’s youuuuuurs?” Even though this had all been disastrously abnormal so far, I wasn’t willing to start conversing with sock puppets yet, so I simply looked past them to the kids face, that he was clearly trying to obscure with his hood. “Jeez, that’s some sorta talent you got yourself there. It was like the puppets were talking to me!” He lowered his puppet-wielding hands, tilting his head up as he smiled sheepishly. “R-really? T-these are really sloppily made… I only just made them in fact. A-Ayame, right? You’ve already met Osie, so you don’t really have any reason to want to talk to m-me…” He then awkwardly dropped to the floor, sitting crossed legged like some sort of dejected dog, as he modified his sock puppets with material coming from some box on the floor. I raised a hand in apology, about to tell him not to be so harsh on himself, but Osore cut me off. “He’s not very good at talking without some other medium to do it through, like his puppets. Or me, cause we’re twins. Now, shoo! Go get me pictures of Spider-Man!” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to correct him on first: Whether I was a reporter, not a photographer, or whether his brother clearly wanted to try talking without help, or inform him that his jokes weren’t as good as he clearly thought they were. Although, I wasn’t in need of drama right now, so I simply turned and moved away from the two. I understood what Kazumi meant now, completely. I definitely needed to keep an eye on these two, specifically Osore. But I couldn’t help but feel bad for Hishashi… 

In my attempt to cross the room, I ended up nearly walking into a large group in the centre. The girl I almost bumped in to was wearing a blue police hat, a light blue button-up shirt, and had her light brown hair in a knotted ponytail. Her eyes were a hazel colour, and she had some freckles on her cheeks. She seemed to be silently standing aside from the other three, as if subtly trying to disassociate herself from what was happening. She turned to the side, staring at me, raising one of her hands, which I could now see were coated in dark blue gloves, giving a small and curt wave with a nod of affirmation. “Tsubame Tatakai. **Ultimate Police Cadet**.” She didn’t waste much time with her introduction, instead moving over to the other three and attempting to shepherd them out of my way. However, it didn’t seem to have much effect, a tall and well-built guy in a stereotypical Army boot camp uniform, even the hat, accosting two much smaller boys. “Believe me, if you join my team, we’ll thoroughly overthrow that bear bastard in a day or two! THAT is the guarantee of Hyousuke Toitsu, the **Ultimate Cadet Troop Leader**!” I could only really make out that his eyes were a dark blue colour, and his hair was black. Although, I mostly deduced that second one from his rather large eyebrows, like furry slugs crawling across his face. He simply continued his ranting, in a loud and proud voice. “COME ON! Calm your nerves, clench your body and stand up straight like MEN!” Tsubame pressed a hand to his shoulder, finally succeeding in pulling him back away from the other two. “Hyou, please refrain from putting such pressure on them. They are understandably shaken.” The boy, who was taller than even the Police Cadet, simply continued ranting furiously, this time directed at her. “And they’ll never get over it if they do not help us escape! Plus those two, we’d make the most effective survival formation!” Jeez. This guy was a piece of work. I felt the compulsive urge to ask him who put that stick up his ass, and just how far it goes, but I somehow managed to hold back those words. I instead continued on past Tsubame and Hyousuke to the two short boys on the side, who were still both quivering in fear, even now that they were free from Hyou’s ranting. The first one had spiky orange hair and light blue eyes, with a plaster stuck over his nose. He was wearing a fuzzy orange sweater that nearly got a chuckle out of me, because it had a yellow hazard symbol stitched into the front, and the words ‘Safety Hazard’ stitched onto the back in light orange lettering. I was also sort of put off by his combination of beige shorts and sandals, the deadly duo. Sandals? In here, really? Well, at least he wasn’t wearing socks. The second one had messy, spiky brown hair, and was wearing glasses. He was also wearing a glow in the dark Hi-viz shirt on top of a sleeveless green under shirt, with the green First-Aid plus symbols on each shoulder. Their rather sketchy fashion choices notwithstanding, a small conversation with them yielded few results. They were still scared stiff by Hyou, but what I managed to get out of them was that the first one was Akio Supaku, the **Ultimate Engineer** , and Reiji Doryoku, the **Ultimate Medic**. I had heard of the charity fund his family ran before, but I figured that for now, leaving poor little Reiji to calm down was probably the best decision.

I had quickly moved on past them, now on the opposite side of the Common Room to the one I had originally been on, noting some boy lurking in the corner, talking to two girls. “But Handcuffs? Seriously? In a place like this that takes some guts. But you’re up front about yer kinky shit, I respect that.” His voice was loud and brash, as he nodded in what seemed to be admiration. He had short brown hair, which sloped down into a spike down the middle of his forehead, dark green eyes, and was wearing a dark grey trench jacket. Everything about him indicated he didn’t care too much about what people thought of him. He must have noticed me staring, because he practically yelled at me. “EY! C’MERE AND INTRODUCE YERSELF!” I approached the group, the guy continuing to yell way louder than was needed. “M’name’s Nibui Kodokuna, the Ultimate **Virologist**! Go ahead; ask me about any kinda virus! Even the dirty ones!” This guy… certainly held nothing back. He swung his arm out towards the two girls. “These lovely ladies are Sayua Taikyaku and Chizue Yurui, the **Ultimate** **Freerunner** and **Escape Artist** respectively.” The first girl had light blue eyes, and was wearing a baggy black hoodie with graffiti tag patterns on the front. Her hair was dyed a bright pink and hung down over one of her eyes. The second was wearing a red kimono with golden floral patterns on it, and had lightly tanned skin, with dark black hair and eyes, her hair curiously curled into two large bows around the back that looped back into her hair. Even stranger was the fact she was wearing handcuffs. Chizue laughed, extending out her handcuffed hands towards me, and giggling, speaking in a charming voice. “Hiya! As he said, that’s my name, don’t wear it out! Although, people that get reallllllly close to me tend to end up doing that at night.” She stuck her tongue out, pulling her hands back to herself as she giggled teasingly. W-was this the resident perverts corner or something? Sayua must have noticed the shocked expression on my face because the first thing she did was turn her back on the two, speaking in a rather cold, yet casual tone. “She’s like this a lot. You get used to it. I’m Sayua, like that idiot over there already told ya.” I attempted to recover from my panic, tilting my head and smiling at her as sweet as I could. “Oh, your talent seems super cool!” She turned to meet my eyes for a second, before averting herself from us again. “Oh, that? I don’t really care for it.” She shrugged, sighing. “It’s just another bad thing in my life… I got a title, sure, but it’s basically a medal for running away from my problems for a living.” My shoulders sank as the battleship of my excitement did, her melancholy attitude the torpedo that caused it. If I talked to her any longer, I figured I might end up falling into some sort of temporary depression too, what with all the negativity swirling around her. Nibui put a hand on my shoulder, swivelling me away from the girls in one swift motion, something I didn’t have the time to resist. “Yeah, she’s sorta depressing like that. God, I love a complete lack of will to live in my women.” The second part he sort of huffed out under his breath. This guy was already scoping something out, huh? He then looked me straight in the eyes, his eyes glittering as he spoke in a child-like excitement. “But I bet she’s into some real freaky shit, and she’s just not letting as much out there as Chizzy. I can practically SMELL it.” Crude would be a pretty good word to describe Nibui. Even I was a little freaked out by that comment, and made a sharp tactical decision to sidestep away from him, his hand now no longer on my shoulder. Jeez… does that guy even put anything that goes through his head past a filter before he says it? I decided that now was a good time to make my escape from the situation, before Nibui thought of some other weird thing to say. Luckily, he was already excitedly chatting with Chizue about something (most likely sexual) again, Sayua now turned a complete 180 degrees from them both as she spurned his attempts to get her involved in the conversation.

I began walking along the wall, before my eyes settled on a rather strange figure directly in front of me… Some guy in a full on, conventional movie Ninja outfit, with a dark blue scarf trailing off shoulder that wrapped around his mouth, like a little mask. He also seemed to have some sort of sharp, shiny items strapped along the belt that hung off his chest, and he definitely didn’t notice me, staring wide-eyed towards all the people milling around the room. I tapped him on the shoulder lightly, opening my mouth to speak. “Hey the-“ “EEK!” The figure let out an ear-piercing, frankly quite girly screech, jumping so high into the air he might have touched the roof from my mere contact, turning to the side in mid-air, landing facing me and doing some fumbled hand movements, before stopping as he seemed to relax his posture just a little. His voice came out muffled from behind his scarf. “P-Phew! I thought I was gonna have to use my Secret Technique – Freeze-Jutsu on you!” I nearly bit my tongue, that’s how hard I was trying to not laugh at the situation. “J-Jutsu?” I chuckled, before stopping in thought and gasping wide. “You’re a NINJA???” He nodded slowly, dramatically and solemnly, his entire speech sounding a lot lamer through his muffling scarf. “Yes, I am the legendary Kiyoshi Ashioto. The villages from where I reside know me as many things, Stealth-Shadow, Specter of Phantoms, the Soundless One, and on occasion, fanboy nerd.” His voice petered out to a mere mumble at the last one, but before I had time to question it, he shouted out triumphantly. “But here, I am known as the **Ultimate Ninja**! So I will accept you merely referring to me as that, rather than using one of my Clan names.” I took a deep breath, before I released the reaction I couldn’t hold in. “OHMYGOD YOU’RE AN ACTUAL REAL LIFE NINJA? THAT’S SOOOOO BADASS!” I began pumping my fists in the air victoriously. The boy clearly wasn’t used to this sort of reaction, as he dodged away from me at lightning speed, falling back into a defensive stance, and then awkwardly staring at me while attempting to smack a small ball from his belt one-handed without actually looking at it, eventually getting it right, the ball bursting on the floor into a small veil of thin smoke, and by the time it cleared, the boy was further away, yet still not out of sight. He just awkwardly stood in the nearest corner, twitching nervously as he continued to act as if his escape had been successful, and I couldn’t see him. I slowly lowered my arms back to my sides as my excitement faded, a slight redness coming to my cheeks as I coughed, attempting to regain my composure. What a fail…

I slowly made my way over to the other side of the room, approaching two people who just seemed to be silently observing the others with their arms crossed. The female one stared at me, her dark purple eyes calculating as they practically cut through me. The girl was wearing a black mini-skirt with black leggings, and a grey button up jacket over a white undershirt, her grey hair tied in a single French braid that extended down her back. She finally opened her mouth to speak, her voice the epitome of controlled, concise and neutral. “Ah, you are our classmate Ayame. It is nice to see you are finally up and active. I am Maeko Insho, the **Ultimate Lawyer**. No further introduction will be necessary.” She then proceeded to fold her arms again, getting back to her aimless gazing without so much as a word from me. Well… okay then? I couldn’t bring myself to talk to her any further if she didn’t want me to, her presence was just overpowering in that sense. So instead I turned to the guy near her, a dark skinned guy with messy dark brown hair who was hanging a black coat off his shoulders, wearing what appeared to be a creased up white shirt, the collar flicked up and top button undone, his eyes darting from side to side as they followed a pack of cards that he was transferring from palm to palm, occasionally cutting the pile from time to time. He didn’t respond, instead just silently standing there and ignoring me. After a while of that silence, I raised my fist over my mouth, coughing as if asking for attention. He began to nonchalantly speak, his orange eyes still not leaving the cards. “Don’t expect me to do some introduction like all those other idiots. I don’t care enough to be doin’ something like that, and if you think you’re important enough to warrant it, you’re not.” This guy was just straight up with facts wasn’t he? I couldn’t help but note a constant drip of sarcasm in his voice. Regardless of what he said, he continued anywhere. “Frankly, I’m not interested in playing by this little psycho bear’s rules. I ain’t the kind of person to just let someone order me around, and I couldn’t care less about making it outta here. Nothing but suffering in the streets out there, why even try so hard as to kill someone for that?” He shrugged, nodding over my shoulder to the groups of people, clearly at a loss as to understanding them, before grunting. “M’name’s Tetsu Jinin. And the idiots at HPA call me the…” He groaned before he said it, clearly embarrassed by the theatricality of it. “- **Ultimate Street Magician**.” He then stopped playing with his cards as they landed, the slap of the deck against his palm breaking the trance I was in from watching it, as he gave me a look that said to move along. So I did.

I finally made my way over to the last two students in my class, who seemed to be debating about something, although it seemed rather one-sided. “No, no, you just gotta go at it a little more, and it’ll budge! Brute force-“The female grunted with what seemed to be effort. “Always does the work with these sorta problems!” A zipping sound could be heard as she finished, having fixed the zipper on the pink backpack she was holding, handing it down to the smaller girl next to her. “There you go sweetie!” Anyone would recognise this one. Kioka Jogen, the **Ultimate Model**. I didn’t actually know anything about her life, but I could recognise her appearance for sure, from all over the place. She seemed to be wearing an elegant white dress, which exposed what was pretty much the maximum amount of cleavage deemed acceptable by polite society. Her bleach blonde hair was tied in a very well done flower bun, and her bright blue eyes were accompanied by her large eyelashes, which clearly had a lot of mascara applied to them. The smaller girl took the bag, and I surprisingly recognised her too. Miya Chowa, the **Ultimate Interior Designer**. The small girl had long, light brown hair that she let fall down her back, and was wearing a shooting star-shaped hairpin, a rainbow trailing behind the golden star. Her eyes were a muted, soft grey colour, and she was wearing a light pink sweater, the arms extending out past her hands, which she had wrapped in the remaining space. Her family ran a very popular long-running TV series, where they went all over the country, renovating houses for people on a budget, and ever since she was 12 she’d been a recurring helper on the show. “Oh thank you Key-ka! You’re the best!” The small girl giggled, failing to pronounce the model’s name. “It’s Kioka, darlin’. Like Kee-Oh-Ka. Don’t mess it up, good and proper pronunciation makes sure you get heard.” She at first spoke in a sarcastic, commanding tone, but finished the sentence with a sweeter voice, petting the girl on the head, who giggled happily again. “I promise to never forget it again Kioka! With you around, this place is gonna feel like a real home for us all! Oh, you remind me of my mom! I bet you’d be a great mom Kioka, I’m gonna call you mom from now on kay?” The bubbly girl went on an excited rant, Kioka putting a hand over her mouth as she chuckled daintily. “Oh, well, I suppose its natural from my family, and I can’t say no to such a cute face. But don’t overdo it, that Osore boy was already referring to me as big sis for some reason, and I don’t want him to get any ideas about promoting me!” She giggled. Huh. Kioka seemed to have some sort of spoilt authority, but it seemed like she was nicer than I expected, certainly a helpful kind of person. It looked like the more immature members of the group were really taking to her, maybe being around children brought out her kind side.

Having finally got my bearings and met everyone in the common room, I reunited with Kazumi. It was nice to be around him again, after all the strange characters I had met here he seemed to be the only person that wasn’t either scared to the point of being unable to do anything, anti-social, or just really, really weird. “It’s nice to see you’re still awake after all that, the… oddities in this class can really take the breath out of you when you’re dealing with them for the first time, can’t they?” He chuckled, once again cleaning the lenses of his glasses. I smiled, nodding. “Yeah, although it wasn’t all that bad. But… how do you think we’re gonna deal with, y’know… THIS?” I posited, referring to the Killing Game we had found ourselves trapped inside. Kazumi raised an eyebrow, just staring at me and straight through me as if I was mad. “How we’ll deal with it? Umm… badly, I suppose?” I sighed at his oblivious response, puffing out my cheeks as I huffed out a reply. “No, no, what I meant was-“ Before I had time to finish that statement, it seemed as if somebody had decided on their answer. “ATTENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTION!” In the centre of the common room stood Hyousuke, the Ultimate Cadet Troop Leader, flanked by Tsubame, Akio and Reiji. Everyone else sort of instinctively backed up and away from him and his makeshift group at the sound, his voice blaring like a foghorn. “Now that I have your attention, I need to make an announcement. I believe, in order to assure we all escape from here with our lives intact, as we all desire, what we need is a strict set of rules to abide by. However, I will NOT TOLERATE those set by that sonuva bitch bear that is trapping us in here against our will! So, I declare that I’m taking over as this units Leader! All you need to do is follow my orders no matter what, and never give up no matter what suffering that bastard wants to heap upon us!” A deadpan silence filled the room in response to his speech, before the room broke out into jeers, grumbles and groans. Nibui: “LIKE SHIT WE WILL! Nobody wants to have to look at your ugly ass, let alone listen to you!” Sayua: “I must agree with the loudmouth. I may be a bit of a loose cannon, but I personally don’t want to put my life on the line against some being that holds the power of life and death over us. Call me a coward if ya want, I’ll accept it.” Kiyoshi: “A-and mind reminding me why we should listen to you of all people?” Hyou yelled angrily, attempting to gain control of the situation again. Hyousuke: “Because I’M HYOUSUKE FUCKIN’ TOITSU, THE ULTIMATE CADET TROOP LEADER, AND I DO THIS SORTA SHIT FOR A LIVING! IS THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU MAGGOTS?!” Tetsu: “I don’t care if you’re the President of the Universe, in a situation like this you’ll be waiting till the end of time if you expect me to put my life in your hands.” Osore: “Boooooo, get off the stage? Who do ya think you are? Shouting your name like that and I’ve never heard of you. Lamesauuuuuuuuuuce!” Kioka: “Yeah, like, just because you’ve got an ugly uniform, a stupid hat and a title you think we’ll listen to you? Gimme a break.” Hyou’s face seemed flushed red with anger now, as he raised his fist violently into the air. “So it’s gonna take a push to ignite the fighting spirit in all of you cowards then, huh? THEN I’LL SHOW YOU PUSSIES HOW MUCH WE CAN WRECK CAMKUMA’S SHIT! STARTING BY DESTROYING THE HIDDEN CAMERAS TSUBAME FOUND!” And with that, he ran into a corner of one of the rooms, pressing his leg into the wall to get a leg up, reaching upwards to the top corner of the roof, where there was a small hole, and grabbing onto the small, black iris inside it. He swiftly began pulling outwards, grunting with effort as everyone just watched, before a terrible snapping and sparking sound was heard, Hyou stepping back and turning to them, holding the black camera, the bottom end clearly snapped off of whatever was holding it, loose wires hanging out as small sparks formed. “IF YOU MAGGOTS ARE GONNA BE LIKE THAT WORTHLESS NINJA AND NOT USE YOUR TALENTS TO RESIST OUT OF COWARDICE, THEN I’LL DO IT MYSELF IF I HAVE TO!” The red-faced boy finally had to stop for breath, but before he could start again, the same bear he had been ranting about appeared once again. “My my my, destroying my cameras AND my walls in the process? This just won’t do! You’re skating on thin ice here, Soldier boy! In fact, I think I’m gonna update the regulations a little bit just for you, flex my power a little! Puhuhu!” Camkuma chimed sickeningly. The bear then disappeared in a puff of smoke again, just as fast as he came. Taking advantage of the sudden silence, I reached into my bag, hurriedly extracting my E-Handbook, turning it on and going to the Rules Page once again. Just as Camkuma had said, a new one was present: _6: Destroying or tampering with any of the machinery within the walls or roof is not allowed, and will be treated with the same punishment as violence against Headmaster Camkuma himself!_ **(NOTE: You know who you are.)** If anyone was behind Hyou’s short-lived attempt at Rebellion before, they most certainly were not now. The entire class did not move, just staring at Hyou in complete silence, even Tsubame, Akio and Reiji having backed away from him when Camkuma had arrived. He looked around at them, a vein on his forehead twitching angrily, his face still beet red. He let out a sudden angry grunt, gritting his teeth as he lobbed the still sparking camera in his hand into the wall, Kiyoshi quickly sidestepping out of the way of it as it hit the wall behind him and smashed into even more pieces with a loud crunch. With that, Hyou turned and stomped off down the North hallway, cursing rampantly under his breath, and we were all left alone with silence and our thoughts once again.


	3. Chapter 1: Tyrant's Tears of Regret - Exploration and Motive

After Hyousuke Toitsu, the Ultimate Cadet Troop Leader’s failed attempt at rallying us all against Camkuma, we were all left alone in the Common Room with nothing but complete silence for a while. I just stood awkwardly next to Kazumi, as the red-faced ball of rage left the room, storming up the north hallway. And then, once we were all finally sure he was gone, it was as if the entire class let out a collective breath of relief. Sure, I didn’t expect we’d all be perfectly united in a high-intensity situation such as this, but THIS was stretching it a bit. I didn’t know how we’d deal with this guy… While I was still pondering this thought, I only just noticed that Kazumi was now missing from the corner of my eye. I quickly span around, as chatter began to take over the air of the room again, spotting the Therapist making his way down the south hallway. I opened my mouth to say something, but once again I found the words stalling, and instead decided to just follow him. He stopped in front of a door, built into the wall on his left that seemed to be closed. I awkwardly tapped him on the shoulder as I tried to get his attention. “Uhh… Where are you going?” He turned around, his face displaying a look of extreme confusion, as if he wasn’t aware I was still there, or whether he just didn’t understand why I was asking. “Well, if we’re going to be stuck here, we might as well check the other rooms here right? That’s just common sense.” I nodded in agreement to his words, but he still seemed wary of me. Whether that was because of the possibility he could be killed by anybody here, or whether he just didn’t understand what was confusing me so much. As Kazumi opened the door, entering the room, I still struggled to not express what I was feeling. How could he be so calm in a situation like this??? All it really did was make me feel sort of pathetic in comparison. I figured we’d be the most alike, what with our talents being relatively simple and unimpressive, and our lack of any sort of fame, but… Was I the one who was reacting wrongly to this whole thing? Regardless, I didn’t have much choice now other than to follow Kazumi’s lead. I entered into the room, a white, sanitary and clean room, lined from wall to wall with tightly packed shelves and closets, one long and thin white table down the middle of the room. Kazumi quickly swung open the first closet he could, and I could make out large amounts of medical supplies and pill bottles inside. So this must have been the area labelled on the Map as the Clinic. As I peered over Kazumi’s shoulder, inspecting the contents of the closet, I was once again overcome by a feeling of dread in my gut, that we might end up having to use these. Kazumi scratched his chin, clearly seeing this all in a different way, as he remarked in a cold, calculating tone. “Well, it’s nice to see he’s given us the luxury of not having to messily kill each other like complete animals.” Once again, the cold indifference he was showing made me startled again. Wasn’t that the least that damn bear could be doing? He closed the closet, then simply pacing up and down past the table, exploring the room, as I simply stood there frozen, following his movements closely. After checking what seemed to be the final shelf, he turned to me, once again making some sort of direct conversation. “Hey, notice anything strange about this entire thing so far?” I couldn’t hold myself back once I heard that, letting out my inner thoughts in one manic burst. “OTHER THAN ALL OF IT? I know being vague is your hobby but you’re gonna have to be more specific!” I didn’t exactly know how Kazumi would react, and I was already cursing my own lack of control, but he didn’t seem to show any more emotion than he had before, simply nodding and letting out a small grunting noise under his breath. “Understandable. Very well, I will try and be more expressive, for your comfort of course. What I was attempting to say is, our captor clearly wants us to murder each other, yet we don’t seem to have been supplied with weapons. Don’t you think that’s strange?” For once, something he said actually registered with me, and I couldn’t help but scratch the back of my neck in response as I pondered it. “Uhh… yeah, that is a little weird. But they could just be really well hidden, or in one of the other rooms right?” He nodded again at the suggestion, a soft smile gracing his face, an expression much more nice to look at than his usual steely lack of emotion. “I suppose we’ll find that out soon enough, won’t we?” I couldn’t help myself from smiling a little back, despite the situation. His calmness had been starting to become a little eerie to me, but I guess it was just in the way I was looking at it. If I looked at it in a positive way, Kazumi’s level head might have been the only thing preventing me from completely losing it when I first woke up. Somebody who was chilled out, but also taking the situation as seriously as it deserved to be taken was definitely a useful ally to have, and I hadn’t really been able to find that in anyone else here so far. It was only then that it occurred to me that I had been staring at him silently for an awkwardly long time, and even though he didn’t seem to care, in his usual neutral state, I couldn’t help myself from wanting to excuse myself. I exchanged a rather short and simple goodbye with Kazumi as I left the Clinic, really not sure where I actually intended on going.

Having mostly forgotten the layout of the map from the Handbook, I simply crossed the hallway from the clinic, entering through into a room without a door, instead just a large gap in the wall, looking around at the far more… spacious room. The centre of the room was like a large metal box of emptiness, and what it was became more obvious once I noticed the control boxes and cylinders up against the walls, pipes attaching them to the large maze of pipes that were layered over the roof. I voiced my thoughts openly; completely unaware there was actually anyone else in here. “… A Boiler Room?” That was when a voice I couldn’t have forgotten grunted back from across the other side of the room, in typical brash, rude manner.  
“No shit it is, didn’t ya read the fucking map Smokey the Bear gave us?” I immediately snapped around to the side, noticing the familiar figure of Nibui leaned up against one of the few sections of wall that wasn’t blocked off by something. The suddenness of his appearance made me jolt a little, and even though I tried, I couldn’t stop that surprise from finding its way into my words.“D-did I ask you?” He shrugged, as he stood up from the metal wall he leant against. “If you don’t want an answer, don’t walk around asking stupid rhetorical shit then." I guess ‘Rude’ could now be added to my list of impressions of him, right underneath ‘Perverted’. In response to his reaction, I puffed out my cheeks a little in frustration, marching back out of the room the way I came. The worst thing was, even this idiot was somehow going to be more agreeable than Hyou. Just as I left the room, I turned to the side, before catching a dark shadow in the corner of my eye, turning back around to the dead end of the hallway. I almost had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, but that was most certainly Sayua, slunk up around the entrance to the Boiler room. Nobody else here could be THAT foreboding and edgy. But her presence alone was perplexing. Was she… waiting outside for Nibui or something? After first meeting the two, I’d have figured she would have wanted to be as far away from him as possible. I tried my best to put this query into words. “O-oh, Sayua. What are you doing here?” She groaned, turning her face away from me as she pulled her hood higher up over her head, flipping her hair in the process, as if trying to cover as much of her face as she possibly could. Her words held a tone of embarrassment, which was obvious considering the situation. “Idiot asked me to explore this shithole with him. I didn’t have anything else going on… as per usual, so I tagged along, although he seems to be doing all of the work, which I’m okay with. It’s more my style to deny or ignore stuff like that.” I sort of moved back on instinct, confusion in my voice and a noticeable drop of sweat down the side of my cheek as I shrugged. “O… kayyyyyyyyyyy?” I then continued to awkwardly back up; turning myself around once I was certain Sayua wasn’t staring at me still, heading back into the Common Room from the South hallway. I was sort of struggling to process what I just saw. I mean… it was nice to see them sorta getting along, I guess? But that entire thing still perplexed me. Nibui, investigating something thoroughly that wasn’t sexual, with Sayua around, of all people? Maybe he was a bit smarter than I was giving him credit for. Sayua was still an unexplainable oddity, but from the way she reacted it didn’t seem likely she was lying. I guess the level of disdain she showed towards Nibui is just normal for her, and nothing personal? Either way, those two remained enigmas to me.

I crossed through the Common Room, this time heading up the North hallway, which seemed to have the exact same arrangement, with two rooms on each side of the hall. Both of them had doors this time however, except the door on the right was wide open, with a large amount of noise coming from it. Naturally curious, I entered the room. The side of the room farthest from the door seemed to have a long line of shelves across it, most of them empty, and where the shelves finally stopped the gap of bare wall was filled by a large, wicker washing basket. Directly to my right, around the corner from the door, were two washing machines pressed up against the wall. So this was the Laundry Room. I remembered reading about this on the Handbook. It would definitely be a useful thing to have, but we didn’t have any spare clothes on us… so what would we wear if we had to wash our clothes? That wasn’t a question I wanted answering. At the washing machine furthest away from me, there seemed to be quite a crowd, making an equally large noise. “No, no, I said I’d show you and you’re doing it all wrong; just leave it to m- HEY PUT THOSE BACK YOU LITTLE-“ Ah, there was the unforgettable voice of Kioka Jogen, the Ultimate Model. The bratty, upper class, spoilt tone of her voice, once again, really didn’t fit the happy smiling faces of those she was surrounded by. Even though she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself that much, they certainly were. And by they, I mean Osore and Hishashi Torihada, accompanied by Miya Chowa. The three most childish members of the class seemed to be surrounding a rather frustrated Kioka as she tried her best to use the washing machine, Hishashi watching her intently and quietly, Osore trying his best to shove his head excitedly over his brother’s shoulder, trying to slip past him in any way possible as he reached out to the older girl, murmuring excitedly. “Big sis, big sis, big sis, look look look!” Due to her completely ignoring him, and his brothers failure to move, the boy instead turned around, staring up at me, with some sort of red fluid dribbling out from his bottom lip as he held what seemed to be… a bottle of bleach? “Oh it’s that Lois Lane bitch! Check it out, I’m a vampire now!” He smiled widely and excitedly, baring his ‘fangs’ as even more ‘blood’ dribbled from his mouth. I nearly jumped out of my skin for a second, before I reminded myself it was Osore, and that he was just messing with me, and that no-one was actually bleeding, although that didn’t explain the bleach. Before I had a chance to speak in response, he cackled like a little imp, or gremlin. “HAH! I nearly gotcha there, I can tell!” He held the bottle of bleach up into the air, grinning wildly. “You should totally try some of this magical Escape-Juice. It’s the fast way outta here! Ooh, even better, let’s do a drinking game, every time Hishi is pathetic, we chug.” I had to hold myself back from slapping the bottle out of his hand, and then slapping him again directly across the face. “Your jokes aren’t funny and this is not the time for them. Don’t you realise all our lives are at an actual risk here???” He simply laughed, looking up to meet my eyes as I stared back into the scarlet pools that were his eyes. “Nah… This is probably all just some prank. We’ll see when it happens.” He spoke those words in a surprising tone… no playfulness, no teasing, but a seriousness and flatness that made those words heavier, and far more terrifying than anything he had said up until that point. Was this… really what Osore believed, truly? Before I could try and confirm it, he backed away from me, returning to the chaos of the group, as if he had seen the perplexed look on my face, and left to avoid questioning. I instead approached the chaotic mass, giving a small and nervous wave to the still rather stressed looking Kioka, the much smaller Miya tugging at her dress. “Heyyyyyyyyyyy Kioka. What’s… going on?” Kioka finally looked away from the other three for a while, her face quickly twisting into a sweet, but rather fake looking smile. “Oh, Ayame. Well, I guess since we haven’t properly talked this’ll be hard to explain, but long story short, Osore was messing around in the kitchen with his brother, and started drinking the tomato ketchup directly from those little sachet packets, the kind you get at fast food restaurants. He ended up getting some of the ketchup from his hands on his brothers finger puppets, and poor little Hishashi was absolutely distraught! So I’m showing them how to properly wash things, and Miya wanted to watch too.” Huh… she was certainly good at looking after people. I was starting to really see why the more… immature members of our group were heralding her as ‘Mom’. That explained pretty much everything I needed to know. Before she could continue talking to me any further, the excited childish yelling drowned out her words, the model sighing and getting back down to her knees as she showed the childish trio how the washing machine worked. It was obvious I wasn’t going to get any more information from this lot, so I simply sighed and left the room.

I crossed the hallway from the Laundry Room to another door that seemed to be as closed as it could possibly be, but the amount of noise and crashing coming from inside was INSANE. This was the Kitchen that Kioka was talking about… I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what could be inside, pressing my hand to the door handle as I opened the door, my eyes seeing a scene more unexpected than I could have possibly prepared for. Before my eyes I saw Hyousuke, Tsubame, Akio and Reiji, the group Hyou had formed earlier for his ‘Announcement’… tearing open the walls using various kitchen equipment, the drawers of the room (which could be assumed to have looked a lot like the Clinic before the storm of a group had hit it) completely ransacked, Hyou shouting loudly as if to motivate his group. So this was where he had disappeared off too… and it seemed like he still hadn’t given up on resisting Camkuma in any possible way. Even I was surprised by how fast he had got back at it however, and that he’d somehow managed to convince people to still work with him. I simply stood and stared at the group in silence as they worked, not paying any attention to me, although I think Tsubame had glanced at me momentarily. Akio headed away from them all to go get more tools, and I took that as my chance to move into his path and ask the Engineer some questions. “Akio. What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?” The boy grinned sheepishly, ruffling his ridiculously spiky orange hair.  
“Hyou was bugging us to make some sorta escape route, when I had a TOTAL lightbulb moment, and now we’re trashing the walls for parts!” I stared down at the boy, now more worried than ever. An ‘Escape Route’ that they had to destroy the walls for parts for? Troubling didn’t even begin to describe it. I replied back to him, hurrying out my words in a concerned tone. “Don’t you think Camkuma is gonna take issues with that? Remember that rule he installed? What if he backs it up? You don’t know what that punishment could possibly be!” Akio smirked, his shoulders falling as he relaxed, taking a fork from a drawer. “What could possibly be worse than having to kill each othe-“ I remember thinking earlier that Hyou was tempting fate, and it seemed like he had dragged his entire makeshift team into flying that one big Death Flag together, as Reiji Doryoku, the Ultimate Medic, suddenly let out a screech, jumping back from the torn open wall. That was because, from the wall, a terrifying metallic scraping sound had been accompanied by what looked like a giant, mechanical tendril, spiked claws on the end. I had no idea where it had come from, but the monstrous appendage had darted towards the small boy. Luckily, Hyousuke had been right next to Reiji, and had dived inbetween the machine and the Medic, the claws of the metallic tentacle instead digging into the arm of his boot camp uniform, blood covering their tips as it suddenly stopped in mid-air, then quickly retreating back into the wall as fast as it had arrived. Immediately as that happened, the ear-bleeding screech of the intercom played again, the grating voice of our captor Camkuma playing once again to the entire ‘Shelter’. “Well, it seems like some wise-guys decided to violate a rule! One I only just installed to! What a shame, pupupu! I don’t wanna have to off you guys myself, that’d be as boring as shooting fish in a barrel! So GET AT IT and start murderising each other, instead of turning all that misdirected rage on me and my toys!” With another terrible squeal, the intercom closed off, ending Camkuma’s message. I didn’t even realise that a scream was held in the back of my throat still… W-what… WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? The sheer surprise meant nothing came from my mouth but a deep and fast gasp for air. I could hear Reiji panicking and shouting, and I didn’t blame him. “I-I knew it! W-we can’t do this, we need to just stop all this and hide or something!” Akio agreed, his sweat-covered face still in an expression of pure terror, his head nodding hysterically, like a bobble-head in a car crash. Hyou simply picked himself up from the floor, soldiering on despite the attack he took. Tsubame moved towards him as if to help him, but he raised a hand, warding her back. The long, thick tear in his left sleeve was now visible, the pink stains of blood making it obvious that the claw had not torn through just his shirt, but also his flesh. “… No. We must keep going, even if it costs us our lives. That BASTARD BEAR thinks I’ll feel fear… that I won’t defy him anymore? No… THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF DEFYING IS ME!” Hyou’s voice rose once again to a prideful roar, what could only be described as a terrible fire rising in his deep blue eyes. I could almost feel myself shivering… Reiji and Akio, despite not looking any less panicked, were once again driven to silence. 

Things after that were quite the blur. A fast, tired, hazy blur. Basically everyone had shown up outside the Kitchen afterwards, and after hasty explanations were given, nobody had any time to say the things they clearly wanted to say before Kazumi had cut in, reminding us that we could see the time on the Student Handbook, and it was starting to creep towards night-time. I didn’t know if that was an intentional move to avoid anyone starting drama with Hyou, but if it was it was a damn smart one. We debated for a bit on where we would sleep for this first night, considering there was no actual area for it. Nibui had suggested we all sleep on the floor in the Boiler room, as it would be warmer there, whereas the rest of the ‘Shelter’ was chillingly cold. Second time today that he’d surprised me with his intelligence, although I didn’t think it would be a good call to expect more of it from him. Kioka had fetched us all some blankets and pillows she had found in the Laundry Room, and Hyou, well, was Hyou. Still acting like he was in charge of us, he set us all a ‘Mandatory Bedtime’ of 9 PM. Which just so happened to be the exact time at that moment. This angered basically everyone, but it was then we all realised we were too tired to argue, and that we really did need the sleep. So that’s how all 16 of us ended up asleep on the floor of the boiler room, wrapped in whatever we had managed to snatch from the Laundry Room or Kioka. And, surprisingly, we all drifted off without event… even me. It was nice to be taken by the relaxing grip of sleep, a solace I wasn’t sure if I’d get more of. But, despite all that had happened today… it was nice to see us all working like real classmates. Sure, we had our… issues, and rivalries, but that was to be expected from people as weird and eccentric as us. It was that hopeful thought on which I ended my first Day in the Shelter. 

That Hope, the hope that had brought me sleep, was instantly shattered as I awoke, with a fitting counterbalance of Despair. The painful intercom sound, that we still weren’t used to, sounded out. Camkuma: “So it’s Day 2, and boy, it’s been boring! It seems like you kids aren’t gonna get anything done any time soon without a little push… but that’s why I’m here! Well, that and brand recognition of course. The Common Room, now! I won’t tell you pipsqueaks twice!” The intercom cut out, and we all followed the same course of action, throwing off whatever covers we had, standing up and leaving the Boiler Room without a single thought towards our fellow classmates, as we collectively made our way up the South hallway to the Common Room. A clattering noise filled my eardrums as all sixteen of us had to head over the metal step that separated every hallway and the common room, just walking over one of those steps causing a loud and ear-grating clanging sound. How much would we have to pay for something in this place that made a sound that DIDN’T cause your ears to bleed? We all finally packed ourselves into the Common Room, Camkuma standing in the centre, with what seemed to be a large electronic whiteboard, the kind teachers would use, hanging from the ceiling. We all crowded around in nervous apprehension, as our ‘Headmaster’ started his announcement. “Okay, so I think you all don’t really comprehend the situation you’re in. So let’s fix that up real nice and quick!” The bear theatrically produced a remote from behind his back, and I really wasn’t interested in finding out where it came from. “So that’s why I prepared this little short picture show! May I present, your First Motive! Let’s begin in an orderly fashion! Are you all sitting comfortablyyyyyy? Upupu!” Camkuma clicked a button on the remote, and the screen blinked to life, a recording of Camkuma’s own voice playing, and the image on screen was the same student list from the Handbook.  
Camkuma: “Presenting, my very own Motive Video Picture Show! I’ve compiled a special video for each of you, to show you what you’ve got waiting for you, your reason to leave! Let’s begin with the first Motive Video, for Tetsu Jinin, the Ultimate Street Magician!” The screen then made a whirring sound, before cutting to a picture of a dark, dirty alleyway. Camkuma: “Well, that is a very disappointing start. I’m sad to say, Magic Mike, but your reason to escape from here is EXACTLY NOTHING! ZERO! NADA! Your entire life you’ve had nothing going for you, using your talent to scrounge and steal, surviving any way you can. Jeez! What a loser. Somebody here should really just bump you off for their own ends, what’d be lost?” The screen went back to the student list, Tetsu staring silently and solemnly at the screen, completely unreactive despite everyone staring at him. After how he had been acting earlier… this explained a lot. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, and that maybe… seeing this was upsetting him, too. But either way, he said nothing, and Camkuma continued on, as the screen instead cut to what appeared to be a movie set in preparation. Camkuma: “Motive Video Numero dos! This one’s for Osore Torihada, the Ultimate Horror Aficionado! Well, I bet you already know this, but while you’re wasting away here, production is getting ready to go for the big-screen Hollywood adaptation of your hit novel, Killing Dual-Life! Great book by the way, big fan. I especially loved the part where he uses that security guard’s intestines as a noose to hang that other guy. Hey, maybe you should drop an actual body, and you’ll get to see the world-wide success of your life’s work play out all over again on the silver screen!" Osore didn’t seem too phased by his video, instead just smirking at Camkuma’s short praise. However, Hishashi seemed to be put on edge by what had been shown, staring at his twin with worry. The whirring sound played again as the screen cut to a new image, that of a military bootcamp, but it wasn’t exactly bursting with life, instead eerily quiet and empty. Camkuma: “Third times the charm, with the Motive Video for Hyousuke Toitsu, the Ultimate Troop Cadet Leader! When you were orphaned as a lil’ kid, you were taken in by the strict, hard-ass drill instructor of this very same Boot camp right? Well, without you around, disciplines fallen through the roof! I wonder if it’ll still be open by the time you’re back, if you’ll even have a home to go back to… Find out for yourself, hotshot! Puhuhu!” I knew this one wasn’t going to go over well without even looking. Hyou went red in the face with rage, raising a fist to the air, shaking it in threat towards the bear, who continued on without so much as a blink, the screen cutting again to what seemed to be a science lab, with many expensive looking microscopes. Camkuma: “Next up, the Motive Video for Nibui Kodokuna, the Ultimate Virologist! Well, you really don’t have much going on in your sad life. No friends, no family… Oh, wait! What about your daddy, you ask? Well, he’s not happy with you, as usual! Y’know, that whole super shady organization he runs? They need your newest project, ASAP! Of course, you’re far away from the belt here, but don’t you think he’ll be mad???” Camkuma cackled in his sickening trademark tone, as a silent Nibui stared in anger, a vein bulging on his forehead. It was obvious to anyone paying attention that he was now a seething vat of anger, ready to explode at any moment. The screen cut to a small, brown haired little girl, sitting in a dusty, unclean room.  
Camkuma: “Speaking of daddy issues, number five is the Motive Video for Sayua Taikyaku, the Ultimate Freerunner! When you ran away from your abusive pops to hit the streets and search for your big break, you left your little sister behind! And all you’ve done since is run further and further away! Maybe, you can turn around, and run back to save her hmm? But… you can’t make THAT change stuck in here. Upupupu!” Sayua’s eyes became attentively glued to the screen, but the moment the video cut off, she averted her eyes again, attempting to draw attention away from herself as usual, the pain visible in her eyes. Great… now I was worried she might snap too. The screen flickered before passing onto a junkyard, filled with scrap, a dusty old RV in the middle of it. Camkuma: “I’ll be skipping Hishashi Torihada, the Ultimate Ventriloquist, because I couldn’t find anything other than what I showed his brother. So I’ll move straight to Number 7, Akio Supaku, Ultimate Engineer! You made your parents lives easy as pie with your special inventions, built from the junkyard in which you live! But without you… their mechanised life could break down catastrophically at any moment! Is that a risk you’re willing to take?” The screen cut again, to what seemed to be a traveling carnival or circus setting up. Camkuma: “Number 8, we’re halfway there, and next is Chizue Yurui, the Ultimate Escape Artist! You left your boring, traditional family to join a traveling circus that frequently stopped by your home village! It’s soon to be that time of year, when the circus stops back there again, and I bet your folks will be there every step of the way! Of course… they might be a little worried when the star performer is COMPLETELY MISSING!” Chizue, the strange girl she was, for the first time in the Shelter showed a little bit of true emotion, as she stared down at the floor wistfully. Poor girl… Camkuma didn’t stop as the screen cut to what looked like a food bank. Camkuma: “Number 9 is Reiji Doryoku, the Ultimate Medic! Oh boy, think of ALL the people you could be helping in the world if you just sacrificed one of these bozos and got back to working with your parents charity fund! Just think on it, Mr Pacifist. It’s a deal you can’t refuse! “ The screen didn’t stop, hurtling onwards with breakneck pace as it cut to the intro to the TV show Renovation on the Road. Camkuma: “Aww, what an adorable family! Oh look, there you are! Miya Chowa, the Ultimate Interior Designer! Homeliness matters to you more than anyyyyyyyything, right? THEN GET BACK THERE ALREADY, JEEZ!” I looked at the small girl to check her reaction, but she was simply turned away from the screen, her cheeks puffed out as she pouted, muttering under her breath “I’ll never…” The screen cut again, to Number 11, showing a piece of paper with a long list of appointments scheduled. Camkuma: “Next up is Number 11, and Mister Boring himself, Kazumi Maebure, the Ultimate Therapist! Just look at these, you know what they mean! The schedule speaks for itself! You’ve got work to do, people to help! Don’t rot away here, get slicing and dicing!” I gave a concerned look across the room to Kazumi, but as per usual, he was completely calm, his expression not showing even a single trace of doubt. Thank god for him. I looked back to the screen, and that was when it cut to… No… MY parents, in MY house. T-that was MY living room! Camkuma: “Number 12 is Ayame Shinjitsu, the Ultimate Investigative Journalist! Oh wow, what a nice, normal life you’ve got yourself! Quite different to the others here. I mean, it’s not the most exciting reason to off someone, but don’t you wanna leave quickly, and make sure that life doesn’t get shaken up by this hurdle?” No… I would never. I clenched my fist by my side, as I swore to myself I would NEVER, EVER give in to that temptation. The screen cut to an ornate, ancient shrine.  
Camkuma: “Number 13 is Kiyoshi Ashioto, the Ultimate Ninja! What can I say… Other than LOOK AROUND YOU! This makes you more nervous than ever, right? All that distrust… anxiety… fear… Despair… The forests of your home are the only place you’ve ever felt free to be yourself. If you’re willing to do what it takes to get back there, THEN GOOD ON YA!” Even after what I’d just seen, this one tugged on my heart strings a little. Everyone hadn’t been treating Kiyo that well so far, and I had seen myself just how much of a ball of nerves he was… From what it looked like, he was just twitching in nervous fear from all the eyes in the room on him, so I decided to look back to the screen. The screen cut to an empty courtroom. Camkuma: “Number 14 is Maeko Insho, the Ultimate Lawyer. What can I say; you’ve got an entire law agency depending on you! Crack somebody’s head open, and you can get back to cracking cases wide open!” Maeko was a silent, uncaring void as per usual. I was okay with that reaction this time. The screen cut to what seemed to be a funeral. Camkuma: “Next up, Tsubame Tatakai, the Ultimate Police Cadet! Aww, remember when your Police Chief Pops passed away? He was suspiciously killed, while investigating corruption in the force, right? On that day, you swore you’d work your way up and fix corruption from the top! But it seems like you’ll never pull that off… Unless you commit murder, that is!” Tsubame averted her eyes, frowning, trying her best to retain her usual stoic expression. The screen cut one last time, to five similar looking blonde girls, all of different ages.  
Camkuma: “Last but not least is Number 16, Kioka Jogen, the Ultimate Model! As the eldest of 6 sisters, you always looked after your siblings due to the negligence of your mother, becoming more like an actual mother figure to them! With your support, they managed to survive the stresses of the gruelling child pageant scene your momma forced em into! After all you’ve done, will NOW be the time you abandon them, hmm? Puhuhu!” I stared across to Kioka, the girl… furious. I could see her face was red with rage, the model taking deep breaths, as if she was about to have a panic attack from stress. She really was deeper than expected, as I’d realised… Having finished his final Motive Video, Camkuma gave a flourish as the screen shut off, retracting back into the roof. The bear took a bow, as his camera eye gave a disconcerting zooming sound, his red, blade-like eye glowing as he stared to the class. “Remember… One kill, all it takes. And it’ll all be yours again.” With those words… our captor vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving us alone with each other… and the suffocating Despair that had filled the room.


	4. Chapter 1: Tyrant's Tears of Regret - Free Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Class react to the reveal of Camkuma's first Motive. Tensions begin to rise, as the group begins to separate... and the seeds Camkuma had sown begin to grow into tragedy.

After the disappearance of Camkuma, and the screen he had used to present his ‘Motive Videos’, the room was nothing but silence, although I could practically sense the red hot rage and high tension that was rising and bubbling in the room. The silence was shattered by a voice that I was sure nobody wanted to hear... the commanding, emotionless voice of Hyousuke Toitsu, the Ultimate Cadet Troop Leader, as he made his way into the centre of the room, followed closely behind by Tsubame, the Ultimate Police Cadet, as usual. He raised a hand high into the air, as if demanding attention, before shouting out anyway, clearly not sensing the hostility around him, or just not caring.  
“So, I understand the intention of our captor’s motives is to freak us out into killing someone. As our captain, I refuse to let that happen! So I’m calling an official class meeting, right here right now, and we’re discussing this until all you maggots swear on your parent’s lives to not murder!”  
As was becoming tradition in response to one of Hyou’s “announcements”, the crowd of students erupted into frustrated jeers. Kioka, in particular, was still red in the face from her motive, shouting out loud as she balled her hand up into a fist.  
Kioka: “Like SHIT we will! Nobody wants to be listening to you after what you pulled asshat! Get it through your thick, ugly skull!”  
Tetsu: “YEAH, I mean, uhh... I don’t even have any alive parents to swear on, so I’m exempt!”  
Huh. The Ultimate Street Magician had been rather... Distant from this entire thing so far, so it was a wonder to see him actually get behind something, even if he had instantly back-pedalled and awkwardly attempted to cover it up. I turned my gaze to Kazumi as tensions in the room began to get even higher, about to ask what his read was on the situation, only to see that he was looking behind him to Nibui... I had forgotten about the Virologist’s Motive, but it seemed to be pretty personally directed and detailed compared to the others, and gotten him in a real huff. The boy was practically steaming with rage, his yelling drowned out by the sound in the rest of the room as he stormed off down the Southern Hallway.  
Nibui: “FUCK THIS, I’m gonna go see if I can find some way to get off my goddamned head so I don’t have to listen to this stuck-up wannabe dictator!”  
Kazumi turned his head back to me, and I awkwardly stood there, watching as Nibui threw open the Clinic’s sliding door and went inside.  
“I’m... gonna go deal with that.” I apprehensively spoke, Kazumi giving me a nod of affirmation, recognising it as a sound decision, but not opening his mouth to offer his help. I didn’t think I could blame him for not wanting to. I followed the path Nibui had taken down the Southern Hallway, the overpowering bickering and noise becoming less and less loud as I separated further from the group.  
Finally reaching the door, I pressed my hand to the handle of the sliding door, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes as I mentally prepared myself for what I was most likely about to deal with. I then realised I had no idea how to prepare myself for whatever the hell was coming... and simply slid the door to the Clinic open, stepping inside.  
Unsurprisingly, the Virologist was exactly where I would’ve expected him to be; frantically rooting through cupboards full of... whatever. He probably knew more about what these were than I did.  
A seemingly endless stream of cursing seeped from his mouth as he grumbled.  
“Fucking dickhead who in the hell does he think he is telling me what to do-“  
I was never exactly one for too much socialising, so I had no idea how to attempt reasoning with someone in a mood like this, especially if I didn’t know them. So, I simply reached out, pressing my hand against his shoulder to get his attention.  
“Uhh... Nibui?”  
His head practically snapped around to face me, green eyes glistening with fury as he stared me down, clearly at least a little surprised by the sudden contact.  
“The fuck do you want?!” He snapped as we both stared at each other in awkward silence. I was struggling to think of a good response, so I took the brief moment of opportunity to quickly retract my hand from his shoulder, trying my best to find the right words.  
“Well... uhh... You okay?”  
Immediately realising what I had said, I let out a chuckle at my own stupidity before continuing on.  
“Okay dumb question. Anyway... you seemed to have gotten pretty worked up about that Motive video. You... think it’d be good for you to just calm down? Take a breather?”  
I was almost surprised at how well I’d handled it, and that was only further compacted by the Ultimate Virologists sigh.  
“... Yeah yeah, fine. It just got to me, is all.”  
I put on the best smile I could manage as I tried to reassure him.  
“T-that’s not a problem! Not everyone here is Kazumi, I can totally understand you freaking out after seeing that. I mean, even I did, just a little... So, what I’m trynna say is, I won’t pry too much about it.”  
Nibui stared back at me blankly, blinking.  
“... But I though prying into shit was like, your thing?”  
I instinctively crossed my arms, puffing out my cheeks in disapproval.  
“H-hey! People might call me nosey, but I know when it’s better to leave something alone damnit!”  
I managed to catch myself before I said anything worse, ending my brief little snap at him there.  
Luckily for me, Nibui didn’t seem to have taken it too seriously, simply smirking and chuckling.  
“Eh, I guess so. Anyway, we should head back. I’m sure you’re missing that buddy of yours.”  
The absolute shit-eating grin that was plastered across his face told me that he was implying something, but I decided to give him the mercy of just ignoring it. I silently walked back across to the sliding door of the Clinic, pulling it open- and that’s when both of us suddenly jolted, upon hearing the exact same sound. The shouting and arguing from back in the Common Room. Not even taking the time to look to each other, me and Nibui both rushed back up the Hall, re-entering the common room to a horrible sight-  
Our vision was clouded in the chaos- but the commotion at the centre of the room was barely visible. Tsubame, restraining and holding back Hyou, who seemed to be holding some sort of metallic item that flashed with... a pinkish, liquid hue. And, on the other side, Kazumi, pulling a body away from the other two, that body in question being the familiar figure of Kiyoshi Ashioto, the Ultimate Ninja. That Ninja was currently falling back into Kazumi’s arms, the room a cacophony of sounds and shouts that overwhelmed the ears. And that was when my eyes finally registered what had happened. There was... BLOOD stained on Kazumi’s pure white jacket. There was BLOOD on Tsubame’s shirt. BLOOD on the implement Hyou had been holding. And, far worse than the rest- Blood all over the bottom of Kiyo’s costume, where the wound in his gut was just about visible.  
I practically froze, glued to the spot as my ears tried to understand the shouts around me. S-someone can’t have already been killed, could they?!  
Tsubame: “STAND DOWN! THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR, HYOUSUKE!”  
Hyousuke: “HE WAS GOING FOR ME, I COULD TELL!”  
The two loud roaring voices competed for control of my eardrums as Tsubame seemed successful in wrestling the bloodied instrument from Hyou, which was now much more visible and unmistakably identifiable- One of Kiyoshi’s many Kunai that he kept stored on the strap across his costume. That was when Kazumi, practically dragging the near collapsed Ultimate Ninja in his arms, turned to us, and raised his voice to the loudest I had ever heard it up until that point.  
Kazumi: “Stop gawking and HELP ME MOVE HIM!”  
The commanding shout of someone who was usually so calm, alongside his position as the person I trusted most out of the whole class, made my body quickly sprint into action. Had I had time to speak, I probably would’ve said ‘You don’t have to tell me twice!’, although that would kind of defeat the point of the statement. Soon enough, both me and Nibui were helping Kazumi drag the injured Kiyo back the way we had came, down the Southern Hallway. As we left the chaos in the common room, even more commentary could be heard.  
Osore: “Ooohoo, drama bombbbbbb~!”  
Kioka: “LOOK WHAT THAT BASTARD DID! I TOLD YOU WE SHOULDA JUST BURST HIS BUBBLE ALREADY!”  
I didn’t understand what any of it meant, and even if I did, my brain most likely wouldn’t have been able to process it, as I helped the two boys shoulder the dead weight of what could be, soon enough, a dead man. Kazumi seemed to be leading us to the Boiler Room. A good call: The lack of a door made racing against the clock much easier as we dragged Kiyoshi into the room, the Ultimate Ninja slumping down onto the floor, back against the wall. I stopped to catch my breath, but Kazumi took no such break, getting down onto one knee and taking off his jacket, revealing a plain sleeveless shirt, the same lavender colour as his eyes, as the Therapist balled the jacket up in his hands, moving it towards Kiyo’s wound, as if wanting to try and use it to block the bleeding. However, Kiyo finally responded, with a low groan, pushing the jacket away from him with one hand as he cupped the other over his wound.  
Well... that’s one way to deal with it. Kazumi’s brow wrinkled as his face screwed up into an expression that could only be described as clearly discontent- He probably wasn’t used to people refusing his help. However, he quickly got bored of trying, and instead stood up, staring to me and Nibui blankly, his jacket now balled up under his arm.  
“... Okay mind explaining WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!”  
Nibui broke the silence in his usual brash manner, although I couldn’t fault him for his reaction. Rather than raise my voice, I decided to wait for some clarification from Kazumi. The Therapists words were preceded by a deep, regretful sigh, so the tone for what we were about to hear had already been set.  
“Well, Hyousuke gave us all another ‘Announcement’. Apparently him and his group plan on using Akio’s skills to construct some... Improvised explosive device, to blow us a way out of here.”  
Upon hearing that, even I physically recoiled.  
“H-he wants to build a bomb?!”  
Kazumi slowly nodded in solemn confirmation.  
“Yep. Apparently they found a blind spot in the camera system in the Clinic. No idea how they did that. But he said his group would be staying there tonight to work on it. Naturally, everyone started arguing, and when Kiyoshi panicked and tried to stop him, well- Hyousuke seemed to take it as an act of aggression. He snatched one of the Kunai he had, and stabbed him with it...”  
Nibui and I could only stare at Kazumi, completely dumbfounded as he told the story.  
“Now, I’ll be standing guard outside the Boiler Room for the rest of the day, while Kiyo rests. You two should leave.”  
Despite the fact that he was pretty much telling me to go away, I just couldn’t help but crack a smile at his dedication. Nibui simply grunted in response, sticking his hands deep into his pockets, slouching his shoulders and skulking out. I decided to follow, and made my way back to the Common Room to check up on the aftermath.  
One of the things I immediately noticed was Tsubame, who seemed to have an awful lot of eyes on her. Anyone could figure out why. All I had to say was one thing: I was never expecting a bra that lacy. Yes, Tsubame Tatakai, the Ultimate Police Cadet, now seemed to have completely ditched her shirt. I figured I already knew why, but it was still funny to see her parading around with nothing on her top half but her cop hat and a white lacy bra. As I crossed across the room to her, I could already figure out what the topic of conversation most likely was: Tsubame had her usual steely, stoic, unconcerned expression as Chizue excitedly chatted to her. At least Nibui didn’t seem to be here, he would have had an absolute field day with this. The Ultimate Escape Artist seemed to finally tire of talking about boobs, fluttering off to most likely annoy someone else, giving me the opportunity I had been waiting for. I approached her, awkwardly raising a finger in the air as I tried to question her.  
“Hey, uhh, Tsubame? Why are you-“  
She instantly cut me off, explaining herself quickly enough. Others had clearly asked her the same thing.  
“Got blood on my shirt. Miss Jogen came around to take our dirty clothes and clean them in the laundry room. I decided to give her the weapon to clean, too.”  
I cocked an eyebrow in slight disbelief.  
“A-are you sure that’s okay?”  
Tsubame shrugged a little.  
“It’s not like it belongs to Toitsu, and the real owner is down for the count currently. And I trust her enough to look after it.”  
Well... it did seem like a sound enough decision. And she had turned out to be the most reliable of Hyou’s whole group so far.  
Kioka was really wanting to clean everyone’s clothes for them? Probably in the laundry room. The girls motherly personality had been a surprise, but it had certainly made her well liked. Tsubame then folded her arms, averting her eyes to stare at the wall. Was she trying to... block the view? At first I had thought she didn’t care, but maybe she was a little embarrassed after all. I decided to take that as a sign to leave, and gave her a quick goodbye before leaving back down the South Hallway to check on Kazumi, while I still had spare time.  
Of course, ‘checking up on’ was more of an excuse than anything. I trusted him to look after himself more than anyone, it was just that hanging around him had pretty much become a pacifier for my own turbulent emotions at this point. By the time I made it back to the Boiler Room entrance, sure enough, he stood outside, bloody jacket now completely gone.  
“Hey Kazumi! Uhh... how’s Kiyo doing?”  
The Therapist bowed his head to the floor, sighing.  
“Reiji showed up offering to help him, but Kiyoshi once again refuses to accept help. But if the Ultimate Medic says it’s far from lethal, then... Hopefully he’ll be okay.”  
I released a surprisingly high pitched gasp of relief that I didn’t know I had been holding in. Kiyoshi was a good kid, and even though his talent had really impressed me the first time we met, it was pretty obvious he was terribly bad with people, and terribly homesick. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the goofy old bundle of nerves. I would have been worried reacting like this around someone like Nibui, but I figured Kazumi wouldn’t get on my case about it. Instead, he decided to get on my case about something else as he stared blankly at me.  
“... What’re you standing there for?”  
“O-Oh! Well, I figured, since I’ve got some time to kill, I could... hang around here with you? If it’s not an inconvenience of course.”  
Kazumi silently stared at me, scratching his chin, before eventually replying.  
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. What’d you wanna talk about?”  
“Ohh, well... uhh...”  
I just kind of stared at him as I stood in front of him, trying to think of something to say, before I managed to latch onto a certain detail.  
“Wait, where’d your jacket go? Did Kiyo finally cave in?”  
Kazumi shook his head. “No, no. Kioka showed up and asked if we wanted any of our bloodied clothes cleaned. I gave her my jacket, and Kiyo only gave her his scarf for some reason. No idea why, considering it only had a few specks, while his costume is stained with the stuff.”  
“Oh... Kioka certainly does seem to be working overtime to help us out. That’s... nice of her. I’m worried about how passionate she is about this, though.”  
Kazumi nodded in agreement.  
“Yeah... she certainly doesn’t seem to take too kindly to Hyousuke. Although, that seems to be a recurring theme with our class.  
... Strange, thinking that we should be having our second day of school right now.”  
After a brief patch of silence, Kazumi seemed to have moved on to something else unannounced. It was a topic I had been avoiding thinking about so far.  
“I-I guess... I really didn’t think about what coulda been. And... we’re definitely not a class anymore, are we?”  
I nervously held one of my arms to my side with my hand as thoughts of the outside, of better times began to flood my brain. However, one word from Kazumi seemed to dispel those thoughts almost instantly.  
“Wrong. We’re still classmates, and it’s possible for us to all work together. We just need to iron out a few kinks, is all.”  
… Those words stuck with me. I kept it in my mind, as i slowly mouthed out what he said.  
“Yeah… Iron out some kinks. Right.” I let out a sigh before nodding my head. “Thanks, Kazumi.” He blinked as he stared at me. Kazumi: “Eh? For what?”  
“My head just… wasn’t in the right place recently, and things seem to be going downhill now. I felt like i was losing faith.” Kazumi simply nodded in understanding, as I gave him a small smile before leaving back down the hallway.  
Finally reaching the Common Room once again, I looked around, only to notice someone who had been brought up a lot recently. I hurried over, waving a hand in greeting.  
“Kioka! Howsit goin- …” I came to a stop as I saw the pile of clothing she carried in her arms. Kazumi’s jacket, the Kunai, Kiyo’s scarf, and Tsubame’s folded up shirt… all coloured with the pink hue of the Ultimate Ninja’s blood. I held a gulp back, like a lump in my throat, trying not to look too shocked. Kioka turned to me, giving a surprisingly sweet smile. “You okay there Ayame? You look pale.” I tried to swallow my doubts, shaking my head. “I’m fine. More importantly, are YOU okay? I-I… well… I saw your Motive video and all, and i know you get a lot of pressure from the younger ones. I just wanted to tell you, it doesn’t have to all be on you!” I smiled reassuringly, reaching my hand out. “I can help you with the laundry if you want-” Before I could do that, Kioka’s hand brushed against mine, weakly flicking it away from the pile of bloodied clothes as she shook her head, speaking softly. “No, no… it’s fine. It’s always been like this for me, right? Don’t wanna get rusty for when I get back home… right?” Her more solemn expression broke out into a large, hopeful grin, seemingly propelled to that new faith by the mere thought of her five younger sisters. I couldn’t help myself, my smile was growing even wider and brighter by the second. To think the Ultimate Model, somebody who I had assumed to be some sort of bratty rich girl before, the person I’d seen on so many magazines and billboards, was the main light of Hope pushing me forward right now… ironic. If she really wanted to take all of our burdens on for us, then… I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. I simply nodded, and let out a small grunt signifying my approval.  
That was when the loud, blaring sound of the Ultimate Cadet Leader could be heard throughout the Common Room. It seemed as if it was time for another ‘announcement’... I sighed inwardly, and then outwardly too.  
Hyousuke: “OKAY MAGGOTSACKS! Its nearly 9 PM, so you all better be heading down to the Boiler Room for a prompt bedtime! I, Tsubame, Akio and Reiji will be confined to the Clinic tonight, working on our… project.”  
A collective groan could be heard as the room once again erupted into complaints and shouts. Kioka seemed to be nowhere to be seen.  
Chizue: “Yay! We all get to sleep in one big pile on the floor again! Fuuun~!”  
Sayua: “Oh quiet down you airheaded bimbo.”  
Nibui: “OI, WE SERIOUSLY CAN’T BE PLANNING ON LISTENING TO THIS ASSHOLE AFTER WHAT HE PULLED!”  
That was when the unmistakably high pitched, childish and annoying voice of one of the Torihada Twins could be heard.  
Osore: “Well, I’M not. After the drill instructor here shanked up Sasuke, and those crazy ass videos we saw?! Nuh uh! I’m not sleeping in a room filled with potential psychopaths!”  
An ironic statement, considering who it was coming from. Maybe he’d let all those horror movies get to his head. As he spoke, he tugged at the arm of his brother, pulling him off to the Northern Hallway.  
Hishashi: “W-wait, wha?”  
Osore: “C’mon, we’re sleeping in the kitchen! We can make an overnight kitchen fort, sustain ourselves on ketchup and use cutlery for self defense!”  
Hishashi: “B-but we don’t have any pillows, a-and what about Mom-”  
Osore: “SHUT UP ABOUT MOM AND SHUT UP ABOUT PILLOWS!”  
The devilish little boy dragged his far more timid twin brother up the hallway towards the kitchen, which they swiftly entered. Upon seeing this, it seemed as if everyone else had the will of resistance beaten out of them, unwilling to deal with anything else today. I was very much agreed. Alongside the class, minus Kioka, the Twins, and Hyou’s group, I made my way into the Boiler Room, the class setting up their rather hastily arranged sleeping arrangements: A mass of pillows and covers on the floor. I flopped down onto the floor, landing face first into a fluffy white duvet as I let out a grumbling cry into it. Today had definitely not been good. I rolled onto my side, my face now looking towards the door. Sayua and Chizue seemed to be arguing with each other, as per usual. Chizue had a notably strange way of sleeping (What wasn’t strange about that girl?). She slept on her side, curling her covers around her body in a C shape, thus meaning only her back and sides were covered, the front completely bare. Looking past that, I saw Tetsu and Miya, who had come back into the Boiler Room, the two discussing intently between themselves. It was a weird combination, that was for sure, and neither of them seemed too happy. They had been outside the Boiler Room for a bit while everyone else was settling down. I wasn’t sure what they had been up to, but from what I had heard, neither of them were happy about the fact our class’ sleeping arrangements had been changed. We were all supposed to be in one place, together at night, not split up… Less chance for… Murder. The thought of the possible repercussions sent a cold shiver down my spine, and I wrapped myself further in the covers for warmth. What really could come as a result of our inability to work together? There had been so much Hope before… I-I was sure… It’d all be… Okay…  
I felt my eyelids grow heavy as I was embraced by the sweet release I had been clamouring for all day. Sleep, at last.

I awoke to a shrill, annoying, infuriating voice. The thing I would have wanted to wake up to least, aside from a blood curdling scream. It was the sound of our “Headmaster”, Camkuma, over some sort of intercom. I rolled from side to side, groaning. “Nooo… 5 more minutes, Mom- AGH!” I bolted upright, jumping to my feet, covers now tossed to the ground as I looked around, trying to comprehend what I was hearing.  
“Hear that, class? A body has been discovered! Finally, I was getting bored! Upupupu!”  
I felt a cold shiver down my spine once again as the despairing reality of the situation dawned on me… N-No, NO, NO!!! It couldn’t be true, h-he was just trolling us or something- I needed to prove the truth to myself! As more and more of the class got up, some panicking and running out, some still unaware of the situation, I tried my best to do a headcount. Nibui, Tetsu, Miya, Chizue, Kiyoshi, Sayua- and that's when the cause of the emptiness in the room flashed through my mind, the name leaving my lips in a cold breath. “... K-Kazumi…” NONONO! No time to waste, I can’t just go assuming things- Now on my feet, I bolted out of the Boiler Room, my feet clanging over the noisy metal steps as I made my way from the Hallway into the Common Room, unsure who exactly was following me. My eyes could just barely make out three figures at the end of the North Hallway, and as i reached them I skidded to a stop, releasing a deep sigh of relief. Kazumi leaned against the wall, safe and sound- Although, his head was bowed to the floor, and he looked… particularly defeated. In front of the open door to the Laundry Room were the Twins, Hishashi curled up into a ball on the floor and bawling like a child, while his brother, kneeling next to him, alternated between trying to comfort him and scolding him for being a pussy. I walked past all these… now knowing the source of the issues. As i stood in the doorway to the Laundry Room, the door itself already flung open… A putrid, dried up stench wafted from the room to grace my nostrils with its unholy presence. Something one could describe as the perfume of Despair itself. The smell of what could only be dried blood… I pressed my hand to the door, to hold myself up, gulping as I felt sweat drip down my face. I-I… I didn’t want to go any further in… B-but I had to know the truth… had to see everyone was okay… even if I couldn’t believe it. With a sharp and quick intake of breath, I rounded the door, and saw the dreadful scene that had caused such reactions. Slumped up against the wall, just past the washing machines… was the bloodied corpse of the Ultimate Model, Kioka Jogen. The light of Hope I had found... was dead. 


End file.
